Buying real estate overseas can be complicated so buyers should be aware of local customs and regulations according to Sotheby?s International senior vice president George Ballantyne.

Mr. Ballantyne was speaking at the Bank of Bermuda seminar ?How To Own Another Piece Of The Rock? held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess last week, attended by some 280 people.

Coldwell Banker sales representative Heather Chilvers, London Central Porfolio Chief Executive Naomi Heaton and Mr. Ballantyne discussed a series of topics relating to purchasing property overseas.

?When you go to a new place the only thing that might be familiar to you is your partner or your spouse but there are some things you can do to prepare for your journey,? Mr. Ballantyne said.

Mr. Ballantyne said before signing the contract to buy a house overseas and making renovations to the property, people should make sure they have permission from the government of that country.

He said the Internet is a good tool to search for international properties and people can use it to look at both the interior and exterior of properties while websites such as earth.google.com can show any location in the world.

?Almost every chamber of commerce has a website, every city has a website,? he said. ?The purchase of real estate can be complicated. In places like the US, UK, France, and Canada, property can be purchased with relatively few restrictions, if any.

?There are other spots, like Switzerland, that may be somewhat more difficult but there are exceptions.?

He said if people buy property in London, if the property is over $500,000 dollars there will be a four percent tax on that property. Alternatively, if someone owns a property in the Bahamas they will pay a tax of one percent of the property?s value up to $35,000.

?There are lot of considerations when purchasing real estate abroad, some places will have title insurance, others areas have specific property rights, specific environmental rights and you should be familiar with the local language and customs,? he added. ?The strongest advice I can give as far local customs and getting the lay of the land is that you should not go it alone, have some advocates.?

Ms Chilvers said Coldwell Banker has an extensive network to help prospective buyers. ?The Coldwell Banker International Business Convention with over 20,000 realtors is the ideal environment for us to learn about different countries and their real estate markets,? she said.

She added that it is imperative for customers to know if their overseas purchases will have any tax repercussions they may not have been aware of, as taxes can vary tremendously.

Bank of Bermuda CEO Phil Butterfield said the bank can also be of great assistance to would-be buyers.

?There are very specific ways we can help you in that we can provide seamless access to HSBC facilities in 77 different countries and it is possible to effect a transaction with the least amount of bother,? he said.

Richard Brown, Bank of Bermuda Head of Personal Financial Services, said the bank can facilitate the opening of bank accounts without the need to get in touch with the branches in those countries themselves.

?We have already opened accounts in the US, Canada and the UK,? he said. ?We have also opened accounts in locations as diverse and as far away as Egypt, Mauritius and Australia, all where the HSBC Group has a significant presence.?

Mr. Brown said a customer doesn?t have to be relocating to take advantage of an account overseas.

?We can set student accounts up for your children, for example in the UK, complete with benefits like railcards,? he said.

?We can put you in touch with a number of different HSBC Group entities, who can offer on-line share trading and we can give you access to an array of services such foreign currency products which we might not offer here.?

The Bank of Bermuda can also assist with arranging mortgages with HSBC offices worldwide, the seminar heard.

The International Banking Centre has already helped to establish mortgages for a number of customers since its soft opening late last year, (UK, USA, Canada, France and Dubai being just some examples).

The centre has been able to ensure that all the necessary documents are available for customers to sign in Bermuda.